The History of~World War 2 (EXTRA: Warfare of WW2)
In World War 2, there are all kinds of warfare. All kinds on land, air and sea. All the participating factions of the war used all these kinds of warfare. Here are some of the warfares that they have used. Infantry Warfare Infantry warfare was pretty straightforward during this war as all factions that fought in the first World War were taught the harsh lessons of what Trench Warfare could do to the infantry and how many casualties it has caused. Though, there is an occasion where one solider would have to do special jobs to take out commanders of other armies. The war used Snipers quite often in order to gain the advantage over the enemy faction. In the war, there were some decorated Snipers like a Soviet named Vasily Zyztev and a Finnish named Simo Hayha (that's another story for another day). Tank Warfare During the War, Tanks were almost like big box office as every faction had their own tanks. M4 Sherman The Tank used by both the US and British forces. A simple design that had a reasonable amount of firepower and armor. It was first massed produced in 1942 and used in the North African campaign. Unfortunately, it was almost overmatched by the tanks fielded by the Nazis (due to it being powered by Gasoline and the huge shells punching huge holes in it's armor). However, due to it's simple design it could be made in mass (around 48,000 and 54,000 Shermans were built). Panzer Mk4 One of the first tanks fielded by the Nazi army. This is the tank that lead the Nazis into Poland and started the war. It was also used during the Nazi campaign for Western Europe and into Paris. Though it wasn't the best tank in terms of firepower and armor, but it was brand new coordinations of these tanks is what helped this tank into near Nazi victory. T-34 This tank was fielded by the Soviets. Though this was designed by an American tank desinger J. Walter Christie, the Soviets were more interested in the design. This tank is also what the destroyed the "aura of invincibility" of the Nazi army. Like the Sherman, the T-34 was built in mass and was used for not just to shoot shells either, but also ram the Nazi tanks as well. Type-95 Ha-Go The tank used by the Japanese. It was an older model compared to other tanks in the war. It did help with Japan's campaign to take over the Korean Penninsula as well as China. But up against the US Sherman, it was overmatched. Tiger Another one of the tanks made by the Nazis. Almost twice as big as any tank fielded by either the Allies and the Soviets, it was an "unfair advantage" as the guns on the early models of both the Sherman and the T-34 couldn't destroy the Tank's armor, but it's 88MM gun could destroy the aforementioned tanks. But it's design was also a bad trade-off, it could overmatch virutally any tank from the Allies and the Soviets, but it also requires complex designs and because of this, not a whole lot of Tigers were built (only around 1,400 Tigers were built). Tank Warfare (Europe/North Africa) As we all know that Nazi Germany was almost the "master" of Tank Warfare of World War 2 as they not just took over Poland but also Western Europe with their tanks. They also would use their seemingly invincible tank divisions and their "supermen" to invade and conquer the USSR. But this would all change in 1942 when the Nazis surrender at Stalingrad. Another point of the Nazis being only human is at the Battle of Kursk in the summer of 1943 when millions of both Nazis and Soviets battle it out with both infantry and tanks. Both sides suffered huge casualties as both infantry and tanks were lost. But because the Soviets were able to replace their loses better than the Nazis could, this helped the Soviets gain the upper hand in the war. In fact, as the war went on in Europe it was proven by both the Allies and the Soviets that the most important asset of a tank, is not it's gun, nor is it the armor, but it's numbers. The Allies and the Soviets could easily build and repair their own tanks, the only advantage their tanks had over the Nazis. With their superior tank numbers, the Allies and the Soviets were able to push the Nazi back to their precious Fatherland. Tank Warfare (Far East/Pacific) Tank Warfare was more sporadic in the Pacific Theater. The Japanese did use their tanks to overwhelm their Korean and Chinese neighbors since Japan was better mechanically inclined than both the Koreans and the Chinese. But because the Type-95 Ha Go was very old in comparison to other WW2 tanks, and though the Tank saw sporadic battles against the US Sherman but was simply outclassed. Naval Warfare Not all battles were on land, some of them (actually a good amount of them) were at sea. Each Faction had their own Naval vessels. North Carolina Class The ship that was used by the US Navy. This had huge guns and even lead land invasions for the Allies, but it can also handle it's own at sea. It can carry a crew of around 1,800 men and had 16 inch guns. HMS Hood One of the ships used by the British Royal Navy. It has seen action in WW1, though it was aging as the second World War began. As the Battle of The Atlantic started, the 20-year old Hood went up against the bigger, better Bismarck (a Nazi battleship) and it went down after several small shots. Only 4 crewmen of 1,325 of the ship survived. Though, the British had better ships by World War 2. Bismarck One of the many battleships of the Nazi Navy. This was known as "Hitler's Favorite Battleship". This was a definite force to the reckoned with at sea, and this point was made clear when it faced the British cruiser: the HMS Hood as it took only a few rounds from it's 15 inch guns to sink the Hood. The Bismarck was then marked for death by the Royal Navy, and for several years it was hunted down. In 1944, the RAF's Lancasters then bombed it, sinking the ship. Kongo One of the ships used by the Japanese Navy. During Japan's campaign for the Far East, it has aided the Japanese in their invasions of not just Korea or China, but also to invade and make the western colonists (American, British, French and Dutch) out of their colonies in Southeast Asia. But it met it's match when it faced the US Navy, it had a series of Anti-Air machine guns to defend itself from the constant US aircraft bombardment during battles in the Pacific Ocean. Type-7 U-Boat One of the other Naval vessels of the Nazi Navy. This is the latest in Submarines for the time. Like their tanks, the Nazis used brand new tactics for their U-Boats, and again like their tanks they were very successful and effective in what they did, in their case is sinking British merchant shipping in hopes to starve Britain into submission. Aircraft Carriers Aircraft carriers were essential for both the US and Japan as (like with tanks in Europe) it was big box office in the Pacific Theater. The US used the Essex Class and the Japanese used the Unryu Class. Both these carriers held planes or airborne assaults at sea. Though it turns out that the Essex Class could hold more of US Planes than the Unryu Class could. The other difference is production, the USA could build more carriers even if one was lost and thus can replace them easier than the Japanese could. Naval Warfare (Atlantic) For years, the Nazi U-Boat fleet (like their tank divisions) were invincible. It wasn't until the British and the Americans teamed up and swapped information and technology with each other and even did some espionage (spy) work. The Allies captured several disabled U-boats and cracked the infamous Nazi "Enigma" code, and the tide began to turn towards the favor of the Allies. But it wouldn't be until the Nazis surrender would the Battle of the Atlantic be won. Naval Warfare (Pacific) Naval Warfare in the Pacific was just as fearsome and violent as it was in the Atlantic. But it wouldn't be long before the Americans would test the superiority of the Japanese Imperial Navy. Like in the Battle of The Atlantic, the Americans cracked the Japanese Naval Code (JN-25) and can listen onto their radio frequencies and thus the USA would head for Midway Island, and after a battle that would last for several days, the USA would triumph over Japan and turn the tide of the war in the Pacific, and this tide would never turn again as the Japanese would be on the defensive for the duration of the war. Airborne Warfare The war also took place in the air, and the competing factions all had their own fighters and bombers. P-38 Lightning One of the many fighter planes used by the US Air Force. The P-38 is one of the toughest planes in the US Air Force. This plane was used against the Japanese Zero and was quite successful, though not as successful as the F6F Wildcat which also with it came new tactics to deal with the Zero. Supermarine Spitfire One of the many planes used by the Royal Air Force. This plane became a hero when it fought off against the Nazi Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain. It is tremendously maneuverable despite it's lack of firepower, but several of these could be effective. Messerschmitt (ME) 109 One of the frontline fighter planes of the Nazi Luftwaffe. Like the Panzer Mk-4, the ME 109 spearheaded the Nazi invasion of Poland which started the war in Europe. It was evenly matched with the Spitfire during the Battle of Britain, but it has limited range and not as maneuverable as the Spitfire, but it was an effective fighter in the air. Mitsubishi A6m Zero-Sen (Zero) The main fighter plane used by the Japanese. This fighter plane spearheaded Japan's campaign for the Pacific Rim as this was effective against not juts the Koreans and the Chinese, but also the western colonists in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. It's lightweight design helps it to be very maneuverable and fast. But it's design was a deadly trade-off, it was made of aluminum which gave it no protection from any kind of fire (especially anything fielded by the US Air Force). The airborne warfare didn't end here. Both the Americans and the Nazis have invested the technology to make better fighter planes. P-51D Mustang The US Air Force improved on their fighter planes, by using some of the technology from the "Tizard Mission". They used the radical supercharger engines which gave this plane it's power. This plane was powerful, as it went not only fast but also very far (especially if equipped with a belly tank), this was a solution to the problem to Allied bombers as it virtually made loses to enemy anti-air artillery and units almost non-existent. Messerschmitt (ME) 262 The Nazis have invested into some even more radical technology, this time it's jet engines. This made the fighter plane the fastest in the war, this can rival the Mustang in power. But like any of the other the mechanized units the Nazis ever built, it was a complex design and it had engines where the technology was just being discovered and the engines broke down often, making them unreliable, and again like any other mechanized units the Nazi built there wasn't a lot them at any given time. But it did point the direction of aerodynamic science in the future as other countries and plane manufacturing company would copy the wing design and the jet engines. Bombers Planes in World War 2 wasn't just to create dogfights in the air. It was also to try to hit and destroy targets on the ground, either it be a platoon of soldiers, a tank, a ship, or even a city. A lot of competing factions in the war (except for Japan) had their own bombers. B-17 Flying Fortress The main bomber was used in the US Air Force. The B-17 (as it's name implies) has around 15 machine guns from it's front to the tail. Trying to solve the problem of early allied bombing raids as they often flew in broad daylight where they were sitting ducks for all kinds of anti-air artillery and air defense forces, and early fighter planes fielded by the allies had very short range and can only protect the bombers halfway through the flight. Though, the B-17 wasn't really a solution to this problem, but it was one tough customer as many would come back with half it's engines shot out and missing tails. Avro Lancaster The bomber used by the British RAF. This was the bomber that conducted those early allied bombing raids on Germany which didn't do so well, not during the day and not at night either since darkness would make the targets nearly impossible to spot and hit accurately. Nevertheless the Lancaster was a very formidable bomber and as most of the problems with the Allied bomber were solved, it came into it's own. The edge it had over the B-17, is that it can carry more and bigger bombs doing more damage to ground targets, in fact his is the Allied bomber that can carry the biggest "regular" bomb used in the war: the Grand Slam bomb. Junkers Ju88-M The leading Bomber of the Nazi Luftwaffe. This was the bomber that led the charge for the Nazi campaign for Britain. Even after the Battle of Britain, Junkers were still used to try to bomb Britain into submission (the Blitz). It carried a respectable bomb load and could do a substantial amount of damage. Other Bombers B-29 Superfortress The US Air Force got to improve on their bombers. This bomber can fly higher and out of range of enemy anti-aircraft artillery and it had tremendous range. The B-29 is famous for it can carry and dropped the Atomic Bomb, the B-29 named Enola Gay dropped Little Boy on Hiroshima and another named Bockscar dropped'' Fat Man'' on Nagasaki. DeHavilland Mosquito This is one of the most unusual bombers used in World War 2. During some parts of the war, metallic materials were at such a premium in Britain that they had to make a flying unit out of.....wood (yes, wood). At first, this may seem like a foolhardy idea and could've made the bomber very flimsy. But the Msoquito happens to be one of those "crazy ideas" that actually worked. This bomber was effective at nighttime bombing as it has almost no metal on it and made it (almost) made it invisible to radar systems. This thing can also fly low and drop it's payload onto it's target very effectively. Well, that is it for this extra page of World War 2, don't forget to check out my other pages as well as my Games and Movies wikis. Until next time, this is JohnnyOTGS signing out.